COVID-19: Australia eases more border rules ahead of Christmas holidays

The easing of border restrictions comes just days before school summer holidays begin and will be a boost for the state`s lucrative tourism sector which has been badly hit by the internal border curbs.

Sydney: Coronavirus-free Queensland state opened its domestic borders to all vaccinated people on Monday (December 13, 2021) for the first time in nearly five months, as Australians gear up for quarantine-free travel across most of the country during the busy Christmas period.

Hundreds of cars queued up at the state`s southern border with New South Wales well before the rules were set to relax at 1 a.m. local time (1400 GMT, Sunday), television footage showed.

Queensland, Australia`s third most populous state, shut its border to New South Wales in July and then later to people coming from Victoria to protect against a Delta outbreak that rocked the country`s east for several months.